Long before charter flights and boxed meals, Houston coach Willie Fritz paid his dues the hard way. His head coaching career started at Blinn College, a junior college in Texas, and by his own account, the old days included driving the team bus himself.

So when a reporter asked this week about back-to-back road trips to Colorado and West Virginia, Fritz wasn't about to grumble.

"You get on a beautiful plane, you get your food, grab it before you walk up in there, and I've taken some long bus trips," Fritz said. "So I'm not gonna complain one iota about these trips."

Houston, No. 17 in the first CFP rankings, brings a 7-2 record into Friday night's 8:15 p.m. MT kickoff against the 3-6 Colorado Buffaloes on ESPN. Fritz never mentioned Colorado coach Deion Sanders by name, yet nearly every compliment in his scouting report pointed back to the roster and staff Sanders built.

Devon Dampier and Utah haven't faced a tighter test

Asked what he has noticed about Colorado despite a 1-5 mark in Big 12 play, Fritz went straight to the talent.

"Well, they're very talented. They've been in every game they've played this year," Fritz said. "They probably gave Utah the number, are they two? Number two team in the country, they probably gave them the best game out of anybody this season."

Utah sat No. 3 in the first CFP rankings, so Fritz missed by one spot, but he nailed the bigger point. The unbeaten Utes, led by quarterback Devon Dampier, have won all nine games, and Colorado's 27-24 loss on Oct. 17 remains the only one decided by fewer than eight points.

Read between the lines, and the compliment gets even more interesting. Houston fell 21-13 in Salt Lake City a week after Colorado's near miss, which means Fritz gave the Buffaloes credit for playing Utah tighter than his own team did.

Not every Isaac Wilson start has stayed close

The "been in every game" part stretches the truth, and three shared Big 12 opponents, all with Isaac Wilson starting at quarterback for Colorado, paint a different picture:

• Kansas State: Houston won 35-16 in Manhattan, while Colorado needed overtime to win 27-24 at home.
• Oklahoma State: Houston edged the Cowboys 35-32 at home, while Colorado lost 57-24 in Stillwater.
• Texas Tech: Houston fell 28-26 in Lubbock, while Colorado lost 29-7 at Folsom Field.

For good measure, Houston's two losses have come by a combined 10 points, and the Cougars beat Colorado 36-20 in Houston last September.

Brennan Marion has burned Houston before

As for the Colorado offense, Fritz has history with offensive coordinator Brennan Marion.

"Their offensive coordinator was the offensive coordinator for my first game here at University of Houston when he was at UNLV," Fritz said. "And did a really good job against us then, and did a good job that whole season."

Marion's UNLV offense spoiled Fritz's Houston debut 27-7 on Aug. 31, 2024, piling up 195 rushing yards in Houston. The Rebels went on to win 11 games, and Marion became a finalist for FootballScoop's Offensive Coordinator of the Year.

Marion's Go-Go system blends old-school triple-option principles with modern spread concepts, and Fritz pointed to Colorado's RPO success at Arizona State, where the Buffaloes outscored the Sun Devils 10-3 after halftime.

"They'll run some triple option. They'll have exotic sets that you don't see a whole lot of," Fritz said. "So there's a lot of smoke and mirrors. If you don't line up correctly against these guys, you're gonna look bad."

Deion Sanders' portal haul earned the compliment

Fritz also noted Colorado has "brought in guys from all over the country who are very talented," and the offseason ledger backs him up. Sanders added 43 transfers, 15 high school signees and one junior college transfer for 2026, a 59-player haul that made up roughly half the roster, with arrivals from as far apart as North Dakota State and Georgia.

Even with a 5-0 home record of his own, Fritz made it clear the trip to Boulder offers no free pass.

"Everybody in this league's pretty good," Fritz said. "And if you don't hook it up and play well, you're gonna get your butt beat."

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